Monster High: The New Boo Crew
by Lordius Dannius
Summary: Booston Grammar is a school for monsters with old values, so when a bunch of transfer students join Monster High, they are shocked to find that the school accepts normies as students. Can the ghouls convince the new monsters to give up their ancient traditions, or will they turn Monster High into a normie-free environment?
1. The New Students

_**Monster High: The New Boo Crew**_

 _ **1**_

 **~New Students~**

It was not uncommon to get new students at Monster High. Many new faces would appear so suddenly. It was such a common event that nobody really noticed the new boos and ghouls.

But today was a different day. On most new student days, only one student would join, or perhaps even two or three, but today there were more. Two families had recently moved into the area: the Walkers and the Cifers. These families were close, and the new arrivals had all transferred from the same school: Booston Grammar, a school for the richest and smartest monsters around.

Or, in Cleo's words...

"Booston Grammar is a school where the best monsters send their worst children."

The ghoulfriends walked together through the school corridors, with Cleo appearing rather flustered.

"Do they honestly believe that they can just come here and rain in _my_ desert? _My_ territory? No De Nile has ever even spoken to a Booston Grammar student, and for a good reason! There have been no terrible children in the De Nile family and our name will never be in their history! Although, I suppose Nefera may still have a place there..."

"Relax, Cleo, don't get your bandages all wrapped up," Clawdeen eased. "They ain't Booston Grammar ghouls anymore."

"Yeah," Frankie agreed with a smile. "They can't be that bad if they've come here to Monster High. We should give them a big Monster High welcome!"

"Oh, please," Cleo exhaled dramatically. "Once a Booston Grammar student, always a Booston Grammar student."

Cleo flicked open the door to enter Mr Hackington's mad science class, only to gasp in horror upon seeing one of the new ghouls in her seat - sitting beside Deuce.

Almost forgetting that there was a class here, Cleo marched straight up to the red-eyed ghoul with green hair, slamming her hands against the desk.

"You," she hissed. "You are in my seat!"

The ghoul did not look at all apologetic or intimidated, instead flashing a smirk as she twirled some of her long green hair with her bluish fingers. She barely even glanced at Cleo. "I don't see your name on it anywhere," she retorted. Cleo looked exasperated, gritting her teeth.

"If you had seen my name then you would be apologizing sincerely!" she huffed. "Do you not know who I am? I am Cleo De Nile!"

"Oi!" came Mr Hackington's voice, startling the mummy's daughter. "Miss De Nile! Suppose you want to spend this lunch time in detention for disrupting my class?"

"No, Mr Hackington," Cleo hesitated to reply. She was about to go on to gesture to her taken seat, but Mr Hackington cut her off.

"Then sit yourself down!" he snapped.

"But-"

"Ey! You can have that seat in detention!"

Shocked, Cleo angrily sat herself in an isolated chair and folded her arms. She glanced to the side, catching a glimpse of the zombie ghoul smirking a little. This simply fueled Cleo's anger.

When lunch arrived, Frankie sat herself down with Draculaura, Clawdeen and Lagoona.

"I can't believe Cleo got detention," she said.

"Right?" Lagoona agreed. "That Mortricia gal was sittin' right in her seat, and she didn't look at all like she was sorry!"

"Why's Cleo gotta make a scene about a seat?" Clawdeen asked.

"Well, duh, it's Cleo," Draculaura answered. "She has to make a scene about everything!"

"And she doesn't like it when other girls get too close to Deuce," Lagoona added.

"C'mon guys, I'm sure Mortricia didn't mean to be rude," Frankie spoke up. "She was probably just a little embarrassed."

"She was embarrassed?" Clawdeen queried, her rhetorical tone obvious. "Cleo was the one howlin' like a werepup, she's got nothin' to be embarrassed about."

"It's her first day here," Frankie reminded her. "She might be nervous."

Not too far from the table, mocking laughter could be heard.

"Hey!" came Jackson's voice. Frankie and the others turned their heads, only to see three of the new students messing with his lunch. Two of them, like Draculaura, had pinkish skin and pointed ears, both with black hair and red horns to match their red eyes, and a sharp red tail to further add to the look. The male student wore a black button-up shirt with a red bow tie and sweater vest while the similar-looking female wore the exact same outfit with the colours reversed. With them was a boy with bluish skin, similar to Mortricia's, and he too shared her shaggy green hair only shorter in length. His eyes, unlike hers, were yellow, and his fashion sense was not quite as tidy. He wore skull jewellery and even had a long stitch along his face, and he wore a purple leather jacket over a dark blue shirt.

"Come on, what's a normie doing in this school?" laughed the zombie student as he took away Jackson's glasses. "Couldn't you go somewhere else, like New Salem High?"

Jackson reached for his glasses, but his vision was now blurry and he struggled to see exactly where the boy was holding them. The zombie examined the glasses while the other boy spoke up and leaned against the table casually.

"Indeed, this is not a place for a normie such as yourself," he spoke in an accent indicating that he was from the Boonited Kingdom. "Were you adopted by monsters? Is that why you are here?"

"Knock it off," snapped Frankie, who had made her way over to the group. She snatched the glasses away from the new zombie student and handed them back to Jackson. "Who do you think you are? This is a school where everyone is free to be who they are, not a school where people come to be ridiculed for their differences!"

The well-spoken boy let out a sophisticated chuckle. "It appears that the monsters in this school have forgotten about the good old days," he said to his peers. "You expect I, Louie Cifer, to attend school with a normie? That simply should not be allowed."

"And why not?" Frankie growled.

"Our family has spent generations living by pure monster traditions," spoke the female, who went by the name of Lucy Cifer. "We used to enjoy frightening the normies, but now times have changed far too much. Monsters stay away from normies, and it looks like they even accept them in their society, but our family will never change our ways. We will continue to scare normies and put them in their place!"

Frankie frowned, glancing at Jackson. "Come on, Jackson, let's go," she said, pulling Jackson from his seat. She pushed past the trio and headed back to her table, allowing Jackson to sit beside her.

"Uh... Thanks, Frankie..." he thanked awkwardly.

"What was that all about?" Clawdeen questioned.

"Those new pupils think that they can just pick on Jackson because they don't like normies," Frankie explained. "Maybe Cleo was right about Booston Grammar..."

"They don't like normies?" Clawdeen repeated. "Are we living in the dark ages?"

"We're not, but they are," Frankie sighed.

"Don't worry about it, we can just not talk to them," Draculaura stated.

"Draculaura's right," Clawdeen agreed. "They ain't gonna bother us if we don't bother them. And if they mess with Jackson, they mess with all of us ghouls."

"Guys, really, it's not that bad," Jackson told them. "They're new students, right? They probably came from a monster school and haven't seen a normie their whole life... I can understand if they're a little weirded out."

"Well, we can't just let this keep going on," Frankie responded. "If they don't stop, then us ghouls have gotta do something."

"They might stop in, say, maybe about one week?" Draculaura guessed.

"Hopefully," Frankie muttered, sounding worried as she watched the three students.

After eating lunch, the ghouls left the creepateria and wandered the halls, deciding to stand by the lockers.

"Demons," Clawdeen snarled. "Shoulda known. Demons are the most mischievous of monsters. They've always caused trouble for monsters and for normies, and they don't plan on changin' any time soon."

"They're not just demons, they're demons from Booston Grammar," Lagoona reminded her. "They're trouble-makers and they've got ego problems."

"And Frankie even said that the demons are Cifers," Clawdeen added.

"What's so special about the Cifers?" Frankie queried out of curiosity.

"The Cifers have done the worst things to normies in monster history," Clawdeen explained. "They have never liked normies and normies have never liked them. Demons have always enjoyed causing trouble, but the Cifers have done things that even demons are afraid of."

"Eek!" Draculaura squealed, her shriek startling Frankie. "I have heard the most terrifying stories about what the Cifers have done to normies! And anyone who tried to stop them would disappear forever! ...That's what I heard."

"How reassuring..." muttered Jackson.

"Oh! B-But they are just stories!" Draculaura stuttered. "I'm sure they're not that bad! You'll be okay, Jackson!"

"Relax, nothing bad is gonna happen," Frankie assured. "Maybe the Cifers have changed. The parents of those two might want them to see the world differently."

"And what about those zombies?" Clawdeen asked, almost sounding disgusted. "Mort and Mortricia?"

"I wouldn't worry about them," Frankie eased.

"Yeah, zombies aren't as bad as demons," Lagoona agreed.

"But we still saw that they had an attitude," Clawdeen recalled. "Mortricia got Cleo in detention and Mort was hangin' with Louie and Lucy. And they got an awful lotta gossip for zombies."

"Let's not worry about them," Frankie shut down with a smile. "I think we should really be worrying about Cleo - she really doesn't like detention."

The ghouls chuckled together as a way to show that they all agreed with what Frankie said. Cleo definitely had problems when in detention.

 **~End of Chapter~**


	2. No To Normies

**~No To Normies~**

The next day of school arrived and the ghouls thought that maybe the Booston Grammar transfer students would be settling down, but it was quite the shock when Louie, Lucy, Mort and Mortricia could all be seen standing in the hallway holding signs and wearing shirts, all with the same slogan written on them. This was the same slogan being chanted by the group.

"No to normies! No to normies!"

"Urgh, those Booston Grammar transfer students are up to no good again," Clawdeen huffed.

"Oh, what are they up to this time?" Cleo tutted, sounding disgusted by the mere presence of the students.

"It looks like they're protesting," Frankie guessed.

"They sure don't like normies, do they?" Clawdeen sighed.

"Surely nobody's going to listen to them," Lagoona hoped. But she was, unfortunately, wrong.

"You there!" Mortricia called out to Manny. "Do you think that it's fair that normies can freely wander our halls, when we could never do the same in one of their schools?"

Manny let out a few huffs and puffs, shaking his head. "Nuh uh!" he replied. Mortricia smirked at his response, taking out a shirt similar to the one she and the others were wearing.

"Then here," she said. "Take this and wear it; show this school that you still have monster pride!"

With the loud holler of a minotaur, Manny snatched the shirt from Mortricia. "No to normies!" he roared.

"Oh no..." Frankie muttered in horror.

"This is not good," Clawdeen added, looking at Frankie. "We've gotta find Jackson." Frankie nodded in agreement, and together the ghouls ran through the halls to find their friend.

Jackson was quietly reading a book in the library, oblivious to the protest which was gathering unexpected support. He was lost in the words of the book he was reading, which went into detail about various science experiments and their histories, only to have someone grab the book and lower it forcefully. Jackson's eyes met the eyes of three werewolf boys.

"What do you think you're doing here, normie?" one asked.

"Yeah," spat another. "This place is called Monster High, not Normie High!"

"Haven't you got plenty of other schools to go to?" asked the third in a threatening vocal tone. Jackson only laughed nervously, holding his book up as if it were a shield.

"Come on, you guys," he responded. "You should know by now that I'm only half normie..."

"Well, the normie half isn't welcome here," the first werewolf growled, grabbing Jackson by the collar of his shirt and pulling him closer. "So beat it or get beat, normie."

Jackson gulped but once again smiled nervously. "Alright, you win," he gave in as he scraped up his book and his papers, stuffing them into his green bag. "I'm going. So you guys can just... you know... leave me alone now..." He quickly ran past the students, making his way out of the library. Of course, he had no intentions of leaving the school itself; he was only looking for a new quiet place where no one would bother him. But as he entered the main corridor, he stopped in his tracks and gasped.

Students were walking around with the same shirt on, which read: "No To Normies!". Some students could even be heard chanting the phrase, but suddenly one student called Jackson out.

"There he is! The normie!"

"Get him!" yelled another student.

Without hesitating, Jackson turned on his heel and ran down the hallway. He turned a corner, pressing his back against the wall as the other students ran past. He let out a sigh of relief, only to catch the attention of other students. Once again he ran down the corridor, only to bump into Frankie and fall to the ground.

Frankie rubbed her head and her mismatched eyes went wide. "Jackson!" she reacted upon seeing him. Jackson was readjusting his glasses, but looked both surprised and relieved when hearing Frankie's voice.

"Oh," he laughed awkwardly. "Hey, Frankie."

Frankie offered her hand down to him once she was on her feet, pulling him up. "Are you alright?" she asked him.

"Yeah," Jackson smiled. "It's a good thing I'm pretty athletic, huh?"

"Oh, this is not good," Frankie said with concern, pacing on the spot. "These Booston Grammar students have taken things too far."

"It doesn't surprise me that they were behind this," Jackson admitted. "This is the most attention I've got since I first arrived here."

"We need to get you outta here," Clawdeen told him. "C'mon!" She and the other ghouls led Jackson further down the corridor, where they found the entrance to the catacombs.

"In here, ghouls!" Lagoona pointed, making sure the group entered before she did. Once inside, she closed the entrance behind her.

"All of that running was truly humiliating," Cleo announced, placing the back of her hand against her forehead dramatically. "Oh, how those Booston Grammar students will pay for making a De Nile run!"

As usual, nobody paid too much attention to Cleo's minor problem. Instead they were focused on Jackson.

"We've got to do something about those Booston Grammar students," Frankie told them. "If we don't do something soon, then the entire school will become anti-normie!"

"But how are we supposed to stop everyone from being anti-normie?" asked Draculaura.

"Come on, ghouls, many of the monsters here already know Jackson," Frankie reminded them. "They know he's harmless. We need to make them remember that."

"Yeah, but we're dealing with demons," Clawdeen pointed out. "They're very persuasive monsters."

"You're right..." Frankie agreed, tapping her chin in thought. She appeared to be defeated as she let out a solemn sigh. "There must be something we can do!"

"I don't know, ghoul," Clawdeen shrugged. "As long as the demons are here, we can't even dream of getting everyone on our side."

"I say we get rid of those demons," Cleo suggested, "along with their zombie friends. They're ruining our school!"

"I think Cleo's got a point here, ghouls," Lagoona agreed almost reluctantly. "If these students stay here, they'll scare Jackson right outta the reef!"

"But how are we supposed to get them to leave?" Clawdeen asked, only to hear the distant ring of the school bell.

"We'll have to talk more about this later," Frankie stated. "Come on, ghouls, we're gonna be late for class."

Jackson remained close to the ghouls as he followed them, but as he tried to enter his mad science class he was stopped by both Louie and Lucy.

"This is not a class for you," Louie said in his distinctive accent. "Did you not see the protesting students on your way here? Normies are no longer welcome here at Monster High."

"But this is my best subject," Jackson protested without confidence. Louie and Lucy both chuckled.

"Oh, my dear, you simply cannot show your face in this classroom," Lucy told him, her accent also being one from the Boonited Kingdom. Her red eyes then glowed. "Have you seen what these monsters could do to normies such as yourself? You should really go and hide. Or even better: you may as well just leave."

A tingling feeling ran through Jackson as he felt compelled to listen to Lucy's advice, but one word shifted his focus.

"Hide..." he murmured to himself, almost in a trance-like state. Lucy smirked.

"Yes, my dear," she agreed. "Hide your face or leave." Jackson nodded his head slowly in response, turning and walking away. Louie and Lucy both smirked at each other before entering the classroom.

The lesson went on as normal for a few minutes, with Louie and Lucy both feeling triumphant, but suddenly the door was kicked open, and a loud yell caught the attention of the class.

"YEAH!" sang the booming voice of the school's favourite DJ, Holt Hyde.

Louie raised his eyebrow at the new face. He had never seen this student before. Intrigued, his tail swished a little, as did Lucy's.

"DJ Holt Hyde's about to take this class for a ride, yo!" Holt shouted, only to earn himself negative attention from Mr Hackington.

"Oi! Sit down and be quiet!" he yelled at the boy. "No yelling in my class!"

Holt ran up to his seat, jumping into it and slumping back in his chair. Of course, he was just listening to his tunes instead of actually listening to Mr Hackington. Mad science just wasn't his thing.

"Who is that boy?" Louie asked quietly.

"I have never seen him before," Lucy replied.

"Hmph," Louie nodded. He stared at Holt for a moment longer before deciding to pay attention to the lesson.

As soon as class ended, Holt darted out of his seat and ran out the door, cheering. "FREEDOM!" he exclaimed. "Ya boy Holt is outta here, yo!" But before the fire-haired monster could continue fleeing the area, he felt a hand on his shoulder. Holt turned his head, finding Louie standing just behind him.

"I don't think we've been properly introduced to one another," the demon greeted, holding out his hand. "My name is Louie Cifer, and this is my sister, Lucy Cifer."

Confused, Holt shook Louie's hand. "Holt Hyde," he introduced, flashing a grin. "The coolest dude in school, yo." Louie merely chuckled at his words.

"You seem like a monster with a strong reputation," he acknowledge, seeing Holt's grin grow wider.

"Aw, yeah!" he confirmed. "Everyone loves the Holtster!" Louie only smirked.

"Well, Mr Hyde, I believe we could use your help," he said. "You see, we are transfer students and we noticed that there was something... wrong with Monster High's rules. This school accepts normies."

"Normies?" Holt repeated with disgust.

"Yes," Lucy added. "Normies. You don't want to sit next to a normie in class, do you?"

Holt put his hands on his hips and shook his head. "Nuh uh! No way!" he answered. "I ain't sitting next to no normie!" Again, Louie smirked and his eyes glowed a little, catching Holt's attention.

"Exactly," he nodded. "This school is a place for monsters, not normies. Do you think you could help us new students communicate this message?" Holt only grinned and nodded his head.

"You just gave the hottest DJ a hot new tune, yo!" he exclaimed happily. "This'll be my grooviest beat yet!"

Louie's tail flicked to show that he was indeed impressed. "Good," he nodded. "My sister and I won't keep you any longer. You may go."

"Awesome," Holt grinned before dashing away. The two twin demons looked at each other proudly.

Later that day, the ghouls were looking for Jackson.

"I haven't seen the bloke since this morning," Lagoona said.

"Neither have I," Draculaura added.

"This is bad," Frankie whimpered. "What if he's in trouble?"

At that moment, the iCoffins in each ghouls' pocket vibrated, and when they looked, they saw a notification for Spectra's blog.

"'No To Normies' campaign to change Monster High?" Clawdeen read.

"Wait a second... is that Holt?!" Frankie reacted, seeing an image of Holt with Louie and Lucy.

"What is he doing with those Booston Grammar peasants?" Cleo asked, disgusted and ashamed.

"It says here that they've inspired him to create a new song," Clawdeen pointed out. "He wants to promote the campaign and plans to play his song at his next party - the 'No To Normies' party!"

Frankie gasped. "We can't let him do that!" she stated. "Ghouls, we have to stop him! If Holt supports what the Booston Grammar students are doing, then he'll end up getting himself and Jackson kicked out of school! Even worse - he might encourage the other monsters to do something bad to the normies!"

"Frankie's got a point," Lagoona agreed. "Everyone knows that Holt is half normie. If he starts spreading the message then we've got no chance of changing anyone's minds!"

"We've got to stop Holt before that party," Frankie declared. "Let's go find him, ghouls!"

 **~End of Chapter~**


	3. Hyde and Seek

**~Hyde and Seek~**

The group of ghouls ran through the school corridors, but neither Holt, Jackson or the Booston Grammar students could be seen.

"I don't see any of them!" Frankie exclaimed while running.

"Come on, ghouls, how hard is it to find a bloke with the brightest clothes and a voice louder than a wailing wallaby?"

"It's not likely that Jackson would be out now," Frankie assumed, "so Holt is definitely who we're looking for. I bet he's with the Boostom Grammar students, wherever they are-" She suddenly ran into another person who was sprinting in the opposite direction, but this monster was much shorter than the ghouls. Frankie didn't fall, but the other monster did. "Oh, I'm sorry!" she apologized, kneeling down and offering her hand. "Are you okay?"

The monster on the floor was rubbing his head, then he opened his eyes and stared up at Frankie. He had a similar appearances to Louie and Lucy, with large red eyes and horns which were much shorter as if they were only just growing. He wore clunky glasses on his freckled face and his black hair was neatly combed, and his clothing colours were a little more dull in comparison to the two aforementioned demons; he wore an untidy black bow-tie on an untidy grey shirt. His ears were also not pointed like a demons' and a tail could not be seen.

"Hey..." Clawdeen reacted when seeing his appearance. "You look an awful lot like those transfer students..." The younger monster laughed nervously and jumped up to his feet.

"Gotta go!" he laughed. But before he could run, Frankie grabbed his upper arm harshly.

"Where are Louie and Lucy?" she interrogated.

"Who?" the boy chuckled awkwardly. "I don't... know who they are..."

"Of course you do," Cleo huffed. "There are no other demons in this school. You clearly know who they are."

"Okay, you got me..." the young monster sighed. "I'm Luke. Louie is my big brother and Lucy is my big sister."

"I thought you guys looked similar..." Frankie mumbled. "So can you tell us ghouls where your siblings are? We think our friend is with them."

"And if you refuse to tell us, we'll find ways of making you talk," Cleo threatened somewhat passively, though nobody seemed to listen to her.

"They're in the catacombs!" Luke answered almost eagerly. "I saw them going inside with Mort and Mortricia, and they were also with some blue guy in a red jacket..."

"That's Holt!" Frankie smiled, nodding to her group of female monster friends. She then turned her attention back to Luke. "How come you're not with them?"

Luke attempted to readjust his bow-tie awkwardly. "Well... they don't like me getting involved in their business..." he confessed. "Apparently I'm 'not cool enough' or something..."

"Ha!" Cleo scoffed. "Those Booston Grammar students truly believe that _they_ are cooler than _me_? How tragic."

Frankie now stood back to her full height after helping Luke back up onto his feet. "None of that matters right now. Us ghouls have got to see what's going on down in the catacombs; who knows what those monsters are up to?" The green-skinned ghoul smiled and nodded at Luke thankfully. "Thanks for helping us, Luke."

"No problem," Luke smiled, still looking awkward and nervous.

"Alright, ghouls. Let's go find out what's going on!" Frankie commanded before running once again, leading the ghouls to one of the entrances to the catacombs.

The catacombs were huge with different areas still unknown to the students, but thankfully the boo crew weren't hiding in a hidden room. Instead they had just wandered deep into the darkness and had found somewhere to stop and relax, with Holt's voice echoing through every hole and tunnel.

"And then I was all like: Yo! These dudes think they can just scratch my turn table? Nuh uh! I told them to keep their normie hands to themselves, and when they tried to halt Holt Hyde from rockin' out, I flared up like a firecracker! So I let the monster in me scare those normies right outta the party, yo! Ain't seen those dudes ever since!"

"Dude, you're, like, so clawesome!" Mort praised, being the most enthusiastic about Holt's stories. "Tell us another one! Tell us another one!"

"That's enough heroic tales for one day, Mort," came Louie's voice as he rested high up on a support beam, not even looking at anyone beneath him. "Even you are capable of putting out the wildest of wildfires."

"That sounds like a compliment, Louie," Mort grinned proudly.

"He's saying you're a party pooper, you deadbeat," Mortricia corrected, rolling her eyes.

"Oh..." Mort reacted.

Louie jumped down from the beam, landing before the others as his tail swished from side to side. "We're here to discuss the party," he reminded the group. "This party is to be thrown in honour of our arrival here, and our good manster here, Mr Holt Hyde, will perform a song expressing our shared views on monster-human relations. A date for the event needs to be organized, and we need to make sure Holt has lyrics which are easy to understand."

"He's written songs before, I think we can trust him," Lucy stated. "And we should be able to host the party by the end of this week."

"Wonderful," Louie smirked. "Will you have a song ready by then, Holt?"

"YEAH!" Holt sang loudly, the level of volume startling the two girls and causing them to cover their ears. Louie rubbed his chin thoughtfully, a smirk still on his face.

"Good," he responded. "We're all counting on you. Do not disappoint us."

"C'mon, believe in the dude, Louie," Mort encouraged. "If he's the best DJ here then we've got nothing to worry about. Besides, I've heard a few of his tracks. They're cool!"

In response to Mort's words, Louie raised an eyebrow and let his tail swish again. "Well, I see that the little zombie has done his homework," he commented with a hint of sarcasm. "Good job, Mort. Now then, we will search for a party location down here, where the teachers cannot find us. They will not be overly fond of us promoting a change in monster-human relations, but after the party they will see that their students want change. And if the teachers still refuse to meet our demands," Louie's eyes glowed a little as he grinned, "then we'll just have to persuade them ourselves."

Holt laughed to himself. "If a mega-secret party is what you dudes are lookin' for, then I know a great spot," he assured.

"Lead the way, buddy!" Mort replied, but as the group started walking they heard footsteps running up from behind.

"Holt!" came Frankie's voice, causing the crew to halt themselves. Holt turned around, seeing as the ghouls approached. For a very brief moment he seemed startled, but then he smiled proudly.

"Frankie-fine!" he greeted. His reaction to her seemed to confuse the others.

"You know that girl?" Lucy asked, almost sounding disgusted.

"Holt Hyde knows everybody, yo," Holt answered, nudging Lucy with his elbow as he grinned. "And all the ladies know Holt Hyde." The red-jacketed monster turned and walked closer to Frankie. "What brings ya down here, Frankie-fine? Did ya know I was gone? Were ya worried about me? Did ya miss me?" Surprisingly, Frankie shook her head.

"Holt, what are you doing down here?" she asked him. "Why are you with these creeps?"

"It's a secret, yo," Holt answered, putting his hands on his hips while maintaining his smile. "I don't wanna spoil the surprise."

"You can't listen to them," Frankie told him. "Can't you see that they're using you to cause trouble?"

"Yo, Frankie, throwin' a party is livin'," Holt responded to her. "I ain't causin' no trouble. I'm bringin' this place to unlife, WOO!"

Frankie sighed, appearing irritated. Clawdeen then stepped forwards with a frown on her face. "Drop it, Holt," she commanded. "Just let Jackson out, we wanna see what he has to say about all this."

"Jackson?" Lucy queried.

"The normie?" Mort extended, tilting his head.

Holt visibly looked worried as he glanced at the others behind him, seeing that they looked suspicious of him. That's when he laughed nervously and raised his hands.

"No can do," he responded. "I ain't ever lettin' that dork out."

"What?!" the ghouls exclaimed in unison.

"Letting him out?" Mortricia repeated. "Where is he currently, Holt?" Once again, Holt looked worried. But then the best story came into his mind, so the boy folded his arms triumphantly as he delivered his answer.

"Normies don't belong in this school, yo," he explained, "so this mornin' I decided to lock him up some place where only I can find him."

Louie immediately looked curious. "You have imprisoned the normie?" he questioned. Holt again seemed nervous but he nodded his head.

"Sure did," he lied before giving the ghouls a challenging glare. "If you wanna see the dude again, then you've gotta stay outta our way until the party's over, yo."

Frankie and the others all looked shocked. "Holt...!" Frankie reacted to his lie, about to push him to drop the act only to have him cut her off. The monster raised his hand to hush her.

"Save it, Frankie-fine," he said, laughing strangely. "Don't make me lock you up, too."

"What's the big idea, Holt?!" Clawdeen snapped. "This ain't funny!"

Holt looked as if he could no longer keep up with maintaining his lie, but that's when Mort stepped forward.

"The idea is that this dude has put a normie in his place," he rephrased, putting an arm around Holt proudly as he smirked. "This is Monster High, not Normie High. It's for the best, anyway. Monsters and normies are just not supposed to mix."

The ghouls frowned at the boo crew, this time with Cleo stepping forward with a challenging expression. "How typical of a zombie from Booston Grammar to be so foolish," she insulted. "Do you not understand that Holt and Jackson are living in the same-"

"Oh, how it hurts me!" Holt shouted, cutting off Cleo's speech as he dramatically fell to his knees and held the back of his hand against his forehead. "The normie lives in my house! My mom found the dude as a tiny little normie baby, yo! He was so ugly that she thought he was a baby ogre!" Holt jumped back up to his feet, pulling Mort close by grasping onto his purple leather jacket. "He's always causin' trouble, and then I take the blame, yo! I listen to my music to escape the pain the normie has inflicted upon me!" The fire-haired monster ran to Lucy, grasping one of her hands between the two of his. "I'd do anything to keep that dude outta school, yo! I'd do anything to keep that normie away from me!"

Mort almost looked tearful. "Oh, how awful..." he sympathized. "This is why normies shouldn't be allowed to come to this school!"

"Indeed," Louie agreed, turning to face the ghouls. "Why don't you run along now and leave us alone?" His eyes glowed as he stared Frankie in the eyes. "Otherwise Holt here may have you imprisoned, too."

Frankie frowned but turned to face the others. "C'mon, let's get outta here," she huffed, marching back the way she came. The other ghouls looked at each other and shrugged, following her with worry. Holt watched then leave and smiled, offering a quick salute.

"Catch ya later, Frankie-fine," he said before walking with the boo crew further into the catacombs to find a place for the upcoming party.

 **~End of Chapter~**


	4. The Secret Scientist

**~The Secret Scientist~**

"This is terrible," Frankie said solemnly. "That boo crew from Booston Grammar is gonna set this school back a hundred years. Monster High is a place of equality no matter what type of monster or normie you are. Those students are going to ruin this school, and they're dragging Holt into it!"

"They got the poor manster lyin' through his teeth," Clawdeen pointed out while walking with her friends. "He knows he's doing somethin' wrong but he wants to look all cool. Someone's gotta knock some sense into him."

Frankie rubbed her chin thoughtfully. "You don't suppose we could get help from the guys, do you?" she thought. "Cleo, I know that Deuce is really close to Jackson. Surely he'd want to help?"

"Urgh, Deuce," Cleo huffed, clenching her fists as she grit her teeth together. "He's trying to impress those vile little demons. We're not going to get his help."

"Oh," Frankie reacted. "What about Gil? Lagoona, can you get him to help us?"

"Gil ain't talkin' to me," Lagoona admitted somberly as she folded her arms. "I can't get through to him."

"Huh," Frankie blinked, then looking to Draculaura. "Draculaura, what about Clawd? Surely he'd want to help put a stop to all this?"

"Sorry," Draculaura answered, shaking her head. "Clawd is also trying to impress the new students. He's acting... really weird."

"There must be one guy who can help us," Frankie sighed.

"Heath?" Draculaura suggested. There was a brief pause in the conversation.

"No way," the ghouls said at once. Heath was too clumsy.

"There's gotta be a way to stop those Booston Grammar students from chasin' Jackson out," Clawdeen stated.

"But if Frankie can't get through to Holt, then who can?" asked Draculaura.

Before the question could be answered, the ghouls spotted the boo crew walking together quite proudly. Together they scowled at them as they walked by, only to be ignored. The only member of the group to react was Holt, who flashed a grin and winked at Frankie before continuing on with his walk.

One member from the group, however, excused himself, casually letting the others know that he had to go and do something. As he turned around, he had to look back to make sure nobody was watching him before he rushed towards the mad science classroom.

"Now, where could that little zombie boy be running off to?" asked Cleo, sounding like she didn't really care.

"That's Mort..." Frankie noticed. "Come on, ghouls, let's follow him!"

Since the corridor was crowded, the ghouls could easily blend in, but they had to quietly peep their heads around the corner of the mad science classroom door to make sure they weren't spotted.

Inside the room, Mort stood before Mr Hackington. He was awkwardly scratching the back of his head, almost standing nervously. "Listen, teach, I'm having a lot of trouble studying," he admitted. "I'm finding it difficult to keep up with the work. Can't you just... y'know, gimme a hand?"

"For the last time, there will be no extra classes!" Mr Hackington snapped. "If you can't get yer work done in my lessons, then it's yer own fault for not paying attention!"

"I try my best, teach, I really do!" Mort promised, stuffing his hand into his pocket and feeling around until he fished out a scrumpled piece of paper. He neatened it out before handing it to his teacher. "Here. I was up all night trying to catch up with the class. Please, if you won't teach me, then will you at least mark my extra work?"

Mr Hackington inspected the piece of paper before his eyes went wide. "You solved yesterday's equation for sticky slime!" he gasped. "Your chemical symbols are perfect!" The man looked down at the zombie. "This is your work?" Mort nodded his head, prompting Mr Hackington to laugh proudly. "I didn't think a transfer student would catch up so fast! Especially you; you looked like a real lazy piece o' work, you did! Ha! You proved me wrong."

Mort smiled joyfully. "So my work is good?" he asked.

"Good?" Mr Hackington gasped. "This is perfect! You must be my second best student!"

"Second?" Mort queried, tilting his head.

Frankie looked to the others. "Are you ghouls seeing what I'm seeing?" she asked them, whispering.

"He's a nerd, what of it?" Cleo huffed, still disgusted.

"Exactly, Cleo!" Frankie smiled. "Don't you get it? Mort's secretly a dork!"

"And?" Cleo pressed.

"He's the second best student," Clawdeen added. "Are you first, Frankie?" Frankie shook her head.

"I couldn't solve that equation," she admitted. "There was only one student who managed to do it..."

Lagoona saw where this was going. "Jackson," she announced.

Mort then left the mad science lab, so the ghouls had to swiftly group together and turn their backs on him so that he didn't notice them. Luckily he paid no attention to their presence, so he continued on with his walk.

"Let's follow him," Frankie whispered. The other ghouls nodded, and together they began creeping after the zombie.

Mort made his way to the library, where he grabbed a book and quickly sat himself in a corner, hiding behind what he was reading so that nobody saw him. The ghouls grabbed a table at a safe distance, watching him curiously.

"He's studying," Frankie noted. "He's studying mad science! He loves science!"

"So how's this gonna help us?" questioned Clawdeen.

"Think about it," Frankie replied. "Mort loves science. Jackson loves science. I bet those two would be great friends."

"But that dude hates normies," Clawdeen reminded her.

"Yes," Frankie acknowledged, "but if we can make him see past the fact that Jackson's a normie, we could get through to him. Then he'll be our ticket to crashing that party!"

"Sounds great!" chirped Draculaura.

"I hate to burst your bubble, but how exactly _are_ we going to get him to see Jackson that way?" Cleo queried, flipping her hair. Frankie rubbed her chin in thought before clicking her fingers.

"I've got it, ghouls!" she announced. "That zombie is friends with Holt, right? If I can just get through to Holt, I can convince him to let Jackson out right in front of him. Then Mort will see that normies and monsters aren't too different from one another."

"And then what?" Cleo pushed, examining her nails.

"Well, Mort will probably get on really well with Jackson," Frankie continued. "He won't wanna host a party to get him kicked out, so he'll work with Holt, and maybe also with us ghouls, to put a stop to the boo crew's mean little scheme!"

"Alright!" Lagoona reacted to Frankie's idea. "Come on then, gills! Let's go and find Holt!"

Together the ghouls ran through the corridors, searching for the crew until they found themselves outside. The crew was seen sitting together and laughing, with Holt sitting among them.

"There they are," Frankie pointed. "You ghouls stay here - I'm gonna go talk to Holt."

"All by yourself?" asked Clawdeen.

"It's Holt," Frankie reminded. "There's nothing to be afraid of."

"I'd be concerned about the other guys who are with him," Clawdeen murmured.

"I'll be fine, Clawdeen," Frankie assured with a smile. "Just wait here while I try to talk to Holt in private."

Frankie approached the group all by herself, and her appearance didn't go unnoticed. Lucy turned around and smirked at the ghoul, stepping forward in an attempt to stop her from going near Holt. "I'm sorry, my dear, but you're not welcome here," she purred slyly. "You're a normie-lover, and we don't want people like you near us."

Lucy did not intimidate Frankie one bit. She held her head high and frowned, raising her hand so she could move Lucy to the side. "I'm sorry, Lucy, but I'm not here to speak to you," she stated. "I'm here to talk to Holt."

As soon as his name was mentioned, Holt pushed his way forward and shoved Lucy out of the way. "Did I just hear sweet Frankie-fine callin' my name?" he grinned.

"Oh, not her again..." Mortricia could be heard mumbling with irritation.

"Holt, I need to speak to you - alone," Frankie announced. "It's important."

"What could be so important that you must speak to him in private?" asked Louie as he stepped to Lucy's side, arms behind his back. For a moment Frankie panicked, but she knew exactly what to reply with.

"I need to ask him something," she answered. "It's personal."

"Personal, hm?" Lucy reacted, still with a smug smirk on her face. "Then it could only be one thing."

Holt definitely got the hint, his grin widening as he glanced back at the others. "Sorry, yo, but Holt Hyde can't deny the ladies!"

"Yeah. Right." Frankie pulled Holt swiftly away from the group, making sure to get as far away from them as possible before finally coming to a halt. The pair stood at a safe distance from the crew, standing together by some lockers down one of the corridors.

"So, made up your mind about which dude is your dude?" Holt smirked. Frankie shook her head.

"Sorry, Holt, that's not what I'm talking to you about," she confessed, seeing the disappointment in Holt's expression immediately.

"Aww," he pouted.

"Look, we're friends, right?" Frankie asked him.

"Duh," Holt snorted, "but we could be a totally hot duo." Frankie sighed, shaking her head again.

"Okay, listen," she whispered. "This party you and those other guys have planned is going to ruin Monster High. Jackson will never be able to show his face here again, but sooner or later those Booston Grammar students will find out that you two are the same guy."

Holt folded his arms, frowning. "Nuh-uh," he huffed. "Those dudes will never know."

"Yes, they will," Frankie argued. "Everyone knows you two are the same, so someone will tell them. Either that or they will see you transform." Holt said nothing to argue back, so Frankie sighed and continued speaking. "Your real friends like you for who you are," she reminded him. "We don't care that you're half normie, but those other guys will turn their backs on you once they find out."

"So you want me to turn my back first, huh?" Holt guessed. Once again, Frankie shook her head.

"I've got an idea," she told him, leaning in so that nobody could listen to her words besides Holt. "Earlier today, the ghouls and I found out that Mort is totally into mad science."

"Mort's a dork?!" Holt exclaimed loudly, only to be instantly hushed by Frankie.

"Shh!" she hissed. "Listen: Mort is too embarrassed to tell the others that he likes mad science-"

"He should be," Holt snickered. "You can't be cool _and_ be a dork!"

"Holt, shh!" Frankie hissed again. "Mort keeps going to study in secret when he's not with you guys. He's almost as smart as one other guy in science class. Now, who do you think the other guy is?"

Holt rubbed his chin in thought, then his eyes went wide. "Jackson?" he guessed. Frankie nodded her head.

"Yes," she confirmed. "Mort is pretty much on Jackson's level in mad science class, but he hides it because his friends will make fun of him."

"But the dude doesn't like normies," Holt pointed out.

"No, but he likes you," Frankie reminded him. "If he sees that you and Jackson are the same person, he'll be more willing to speak to Jackson. Then, after he finds out that Jackson isn't so bad, he'll want to stop the others from throwing that party. In fact, we could throw a completely different party!" The last part made Holt grin.

"If it means I get to throw a party, then I'm in," he told the ghoul.

"Great!" Frankie chirped excitably, almost letting off a few sparks. "Alright, now we've gotta put our plan into action. I think Mort is still in the library, so you've gotta go find him and get him to talk to Jackson. Then you two will stop that boo crew from throwing their party, instead throwing one of your own!" Holt smiled and clicked his fingers.

"Frankie-fine, you're on fire," he complimented. Frankie giggled but quickly regained her composure.

"Now's not the time for that," she said, pushing Holt down the corridor. "Now, go and find Mort before it's too late - you've gotta talk to him while he's alone."

"On it," Holt responded. "Yeah! Let's bring the noise!" And with that, the school's most famous DJ sprinted down the corridor, heading for the library.

"I hope he knows what he's doing..." Frankie muttered to herself.

 **~End of Chapter~**


	5. Nothing to Hyde

**~Nothing to Hyde~**

Mort was still sitting in the library, hiding his face behind a book as he sat alone at a table meant for multiple students. Not many other pupils were in the library at this time, so he felt comfortable in not being spotted.

Until a certain DJ slid across the table, pulling down the book Mort was currently holding.

"Yo, Morty-Morty-Mort!" he yelled loudly, grabbing the attention of almost everyone in the library.

"H-Holt!" Mort reacted, throwing the book he had been reading to the ground as if it were on fire. "I uh... didn't know you hung out in the school library." The zombie's words only made Holt snort.

"Ha! The Holtster doesn't hang out anywhere with books!" he chortled. Mort nervously laughed with him.

"Heh heh... yeah... only dorks hang out in here..." he muttered, scratching his head as he looked to the side. "I was just, y'know, lookin' out for that dorky kid. The normie one, I mean."

Holt was about to laugh and joke with him, but then remembered why he was there in the first place. "Oh, right," he muttered, but mainly to himself. He slipped down from the table, landing perfectly on the chair beside Mort while also refusing to sit normally. "So, you weren't in here doing any mad science, huh?" he interrogated with a grin. Mort instantly shook his head, his body tensing up.

"N-No!" he stuttered in response. Holt picked up one of the books.

"Looks like somethin' from mad science class," he commented, studying the book as if it had been written in a foreign language. Mort snatched the book from Holt as if afraid he would damage it, clutching it protectively before once again dropping it to the floor.

"It was on the table when I got here," the zombie boy lied. "I was just... reading it for cover."

"Looks like ya really wanted to look like you were workin'," Holt then said, holding up a sheet of work which Mort had completed. "Ha! You even wrote down the real answers! Totally incognito, yo."

"I-I don't know if those answers are right or not!" Mort added, now struggling to maintain his lie as he contemplated taking the sheet from Holt's grasp, though he was really worried about tearing it by mistake. "I just wrote down words I remembered from class!"

"Dude, you're totally a dork," Holt smirked, no longer able to hide the fact that he knew the truth. Mort's yellow eyes went wide.

"N-No, I'm not!" he protested.

"It's cool," Holt shrugged, seeing Mort freeze up suddenly. The zombie didn't seem to trust Holt's words, but at the same time hadn't expected him to react as such.

"...You're not gonna tell the others, are you?" he gulped.

"Nah," Holt assured, handing Mort back his sheet of work. Mort narrowed his eyes with suspicion.

"Really?" he responded. "That's it? You're not... freaked out or anything?"

"Nuh-uh," Holt answered with a shake of his head, folding his arms.

A thought then entered Mort's mind. "Why are you in here?" he asked him. "Mortricia didn't send you to look for me, did she? Oh, man, I bet you're all gonna laugh about this..."

"Hey, cool off the cinders, yo," Holt cut in. "I only came in here... to... to catch up with what I've been missin' in mad science class." The hesitation should have made it clear that Holt was lying on the spot, but Mort mistook the hesitation for embarassment.

"Really?" the zombie gasped. Holt nodded with a grin, scratching the back of his head.

"Sure," he lied in response.

"Hm..." Mort muttered, tilting his head thoughtfully. "So, you've got a dorky side, too, huh?"

"You could say that," Holt answered with a thoughtful smile. That statement was true, but not quite in the way Mort thought.

Just outside the library, Frankie and the ghouls caught sight of their flame-haired friend leaving with the messy-haired zombie. "Great!" the electrified girl cheered quietly, turning to her friends. "This will work out perfectly, ghouls! Once Holt and Mort are both working together to put a stop to the boo crew's party, they'll be able to get the support of the entire school!"

"I hope you know what you're doin', Frankie," Clawdeen responded, almost sounding concerned. Frankie just smiled at her.

"Don't worry about it, Clawdeen, everything's gonna work out just the way I planned," she assured her canine companion.

As for Mort and Holt, Mort followed the DJ closely as they wandered together down the corridor. "So," the zombie began, "what do you need help with? The sticky slime equation? The process of a werewolf's bodily changes during a full moon? The transformation potion which used a particular salt to create the right reaction?"

Just hearing each question almost made Holt want to take off his headphones so that he no longer had to endure this conversation, but he resisted the urge. "Everything," he answered swiftly.

"Oh yeah, you've not been in class for, like, ever..." Mort recalled.

Holt then stopped walking, folding his arms as he leaned himself against a wall. "Yo," he began, changing the topic. "Ain't that normie dork in your class?"

"Huh? Oh, yeah. He is." Mort's tone of voice and facial expression was enough to show that he disliked Jackson. He then flashed a grin. "He won't be in class for much longer, though, since we're scaring him out!"

"Yeah," Holt agreed, scratching his head awkwardly.

Mort could see that Holt was acting weird. "Dude, are you okay?" he asked. Holt rolled his eyes and shrugged his shoulders.

"Yo, I think Jackson is a total dork," he admitted, "but I don't think scarin' him outta here's a good idea."

"Huh?" Mort reacted. "He's a normie. He shouldn't be here. Why are you defending him all of a sudden?"

"Because..." Holt answered slowly, reaching his hands up towards his headphones and pulling them from his ears. Once he could no longer hear the music, his body twitched and shook, and within seconds, after a wave of flames swam up his body, Holt was gone, and standing in his place was Jackson Jekyll.

Mort took a step back in complete surprise, his yellow, dead eyes wide and startled. So many thoughts were rushing through his rotting mind. Was Holt disguising himself Jackson, or had Jackson disguised himself as Holt? Which one of them was real, or were they both real? Was Holt trying to prank Mort, pretending to be the school normie, or had the school normie been spying on him to expose his secret to his crew?

"What...?" was all Mort was able to say. "Wait... hold on... you're, uh..."

"Oh, man..." Jackson muttered, rubbing his arm awkwardly as he slouched with discomfort. "Did my iCoffin run outta batteries again...?"

Mort could not look anymore confused. "...Holt?" he finally reacted. "Dude, is this some weird trick? What's going on?"

"Trick?" Jackson queried, now appearing equally as confused. "I dunno... Maybe Holt's up to something..."

"Holt was literally standing right there," Mort pointed. "He just... burst into flames, and boom, you were standing in his place!"

"That, uh..." Jackson stuttered. "That... happens..."

"Why?" Mort interrogated, stepping closer to the normie in order to intimidate him. He wore a threatening glare, determined to show no signs of seeing this human as a fellow conscious being. "What's going on, huh?"

Jackson was holding up his hands to defend himself if necessary. "Oh, right..." he murmured. "You, uh... you don't know..."

"Don't know what?" Mort pressed. "Spit it out, normie!"

Jackson could only look down awkwardly, once again rubbing his arm. "Holt and I... are the same person."

The sentence didn't even register in Mort's brain for a moment as he blinked, trying to process what he had heard. "...You what?" he replied. "Same... person?"

"It's hard to explain," Jackson sighed. "I only found out after coming to this school. It took a while for other people to get used to it, too."

"Same person..." Mort murmured, rubbing his chin thoughtfully. "A normie and a monster, living in the same body..."

"That's why I'm here," Jackson confessed. "I can't go anywhere else. It's... harder for a monster to be in a school of normies than it is for a normie to be in a school of monsters."

"Oh my guts!" Mort suddenly exclaimed, having not really been listening to what Jackson said, but in fact focusing hard on working out how such a transformation could take place. "Holt Hyde! How did I not see that?"

"Wha...?" Jackson mumbled, baffled.

"Hyde! Like Mr Hyde!" Mort continued, almost appearing excited. "So that must mean you're a Jekyll!"

"Did you... really not know my name?" Jackson could only say, not surprised but at the same time mildly offended.

"I know it's Jackson, but I didn't know your last name," Mort explained. "That's so cool! Relatives of the famous Doctor Jekyll, in my school!"

"You know about Doctor Jekyll?" Jackson asked.

"Duh!" Mort snorted. "Doesn't _everyone_ know about Doctor Jekyll?"

"Not really," Jackson announced, and his answer seemed to terrify Mort. "The only monsters interested in him are scientists."

That response really caused Mort to freeze up, and he even let out a zombie groan. "Uh..." he croaked. "I, uh..." Jackson's pierced eyebrow raised curiously yet suspiciously.

"You don't seem like someone who cares about science," he noted. "Yet somehow you know about the strange case of Doctor Jekyll and Mr Hyde..."

"Because we learned about it back at my old school, you dork!" Mort laughed nervously, scratching his shaggy green hair. "Booston Grammar was for smart students! We learned about smart things!"

"So you're smart?" Jackson asked, his confidence actually surprising Mort greatly. "I heard that Booston Grammar was for really smart monsters or really rich monsters. You must be one of the smart ones."

"Yeah, but that doesn't mean I'm interested in anything for smart people," Mort defended, folding his arms and smirking. "I'm a talking zombie, dude. A bit of my undead brain is still active, so I'm good at learning things."

Jackson was able to recognize Mort's defensive posture, looking even more suspicious. "Huh," was all he could say. Words weren't going to convince Mort to surrender, especially to a normie. That's when Jackson took a glance at his iCoffin, seeing that the batteries were fine. All he had to do was put those headphones back on to hide himself behind Holt once again to avoid trouble. "Well, I should probably put these back on," he said quietly, mainly to himself. "Holt probably just dropped these."

As he was about to put them back on, deliberately being slow, Mort hesitated for a moment before grabbing his arm. "Wait!" he exclaimed, pausing before letting go of the other student. He scratched his head awkwardly again, facing away. "Holt... didn't drop them," he mumbled. "He... He took them off on purpose. I think he wanted me to see that you two were the same person..."

Jackson hid a smirk, though at the same time he was curious. "Why?" he pushed.

"Because..." Mort slowly said, almost shaking. He managed to regain his composure and let out a sigh. "Because... I'm a complete dork," he revealed, closing his eyes in disbelief at his own revelation. Jackson did smirk this time, but Mort didn't see it.

"A dork?" the black-haired human queried. "What makes you a dork?"

"Holt found me studying mad science in the library," Mort explained, still not looking at Jackson at all.

"Huh," Jackson, once again, reacted with. "Let me guess: your friends don't know you like science?"

"They don't know at all," Mort admitted. "I've always wanted to be cool. Nobody thinks dorks are cool."

"Believe me, I know," Jackson agreed, scratching behind his ear. "Dorks are less cool when they're not even monsters to begin with."

Mort finally then stared at Jackson, as if only just realizing what he and his friends had been putting him through. The zombie had never seen him as anything more than a normie in the wrong place, but understanding his connection to Doctor Jekyll and his interest in science made him seem more... relatable. In fact, Mort felt guilty for what he had been doing.

"Oh, man..." he sighed. "Dude... I'm so sorry..."

"Heh," Jackson laughed quietly to himself, almost sadly. "You and your friends aren't the first to dislike me. I'm used to it."

Mort almost squeaked with sadness. "Don't say it like that, you're making me feel worse!" he whimpered. "I didn't think... I dunno, I guess I thought you didn't like the monsters here... My family have always hated normies and I was taught that they weren't very nice to monsters... I suppose I thought... treating you like that would make me stronger, and... and cooler, I guess..."

"A lot of people think like that here," Jackson told him. "Even Holt has left me some... rude videos on my iCoffin. And he likes telling people how much of a dork I am and how much he hates being half-normie."

"Well, next time I hang out with him, I'm gonna teach him a lesson!" Mort huffed. "...Just, not a very harsh one."

Without being able to help it, Jackson chuckled a little at Mort's response. He didn't seem so bad after all, and Mort's thoughts towards Jackson were mutual.

 **~End of Chapter~**


	6. Sparks Before the Fire

**~Sparks Before the Fire~**

Frankie smiled happily, having seen Jackson and Mort talking together. "This is great, ghouls!" she exclaimed excitably. "Mort and Jackson are getting along just fine! That means we'll be able to stop those Booston Grammar students from throwing that party!"

"I sure hope so," responded Clawdeen. "But what if they throw the party, anyway?"

"Clawdeen's got a point, Frankie," agreed Lagoona. "Didn't Holt write a song already? Those Booston Grammar students might take the song and play it without Holt being there."

"They can't do that," Frankie replied. "Only Holt knows how to work the deck, and they can't force him to play the song."

"Actually, they can," Draculaura corrected after a nervous chuckle. "Have you seen the flashy thing those demons do with their eyes? Every time they do that, they get people to do exactly what they want without them even knowing it!"

"It's a typical demon trait," Cleo explained while examining her nails casually, with her other hand on her hip. "They can convince others to do things for them without totally controlling their minds. All they need to do is look at Mort and Holt and they'll get them to do whatever they want."

"Then we can't let that happen, ghouls," Frankie finalised, sounding determined.

"How are we supposed to make sure that doesn't happen?" Lagoona queried.

"Maybe I can help," came a voice. The ghouls turned around and spotted Luke – the younger sibling of Louie and Lucy.

"Luke," Frankie gasped. "Aren't they your siblings?"

"They've never liked me much," Luke clarified. "They think I'm not as good as them. It's about time I showed them that I'm still a Cifer!"

"So how can _you_ help us?" Cleo asked, raising an eyebrow. She didn't seem to believe that Luke could even be useful.

"I can make Mort and Holt immune to the control of other demons," Luke revealed. "That includes Louie and Lucy."

"Great!" Frankie smiled. "So, if those two become immune, then they can still go to the party!"

"Well, those Booston Grammar students might stop them from going…" Draculaura pointed out.

"Then maybe Holt should act like he's still on their side," Frankie suggested.

"You think he could lie like that?" Clawdeen asked. "I dunno, Frankie, he's not exactly on fire in that department."

"Mort can back him up," Frankie added. "Besides, they shouldn't suspect anything if they haven't seen anything suspicious, right?"

"We can only hope they don't suspect anything," Lagoona sighed.

"Hyde had better not mess this up," Cleo stated. "Then again, he's not very good at following plans."

"I'm sure everything will be fine, ghouls," Frankie assured. "Holt already knows not to mess up. He might even be one step ahead of us."

"I highly doubt that," Cleo grumbled in a disgusted manner.

Elsewhere, Mort and Jackson were sitting in an empty science classroom, talking about the various branches of the subject while also discussing notable scientists who had major impacts on the monster world.

"So, Victor Frankenstein discovered how to create life using non-traditional methods," Mort gasped. "And I never knew that he was a normie, too!"

"He was even a student here at Monster High when he was alive," Jackson explained. "This school has always been open for normies to attend. At the moment I just happen to be the only one…"

"But it kinda makes sense because of Holt," Mort pointed out. "Imagine being in a normie school and turning into Holt! Everyone would be afraid of you!"

"I know that," Jackson said. "Normie schools aren't as accepting as Monster High, but even some monster schools wouldn't accept Holt."

"For real?" Mort queried, tilting his head. "But he's a monster. And he's cool."

"He's not a common monster," Jackson mentioned. "There are monsters like vampires and werewolves and zombies in every monster school, but Holt… isn't even a real monster, if you think about his biology. He's more like a normie. Don't tell him I said that, though – he'll deface my biteology book again." Mort only chuckled in response.

"Can't you do anything back to him?" the zombie queried.

"I threw out one of his mixtapes once," Jackson recalled, "so he set fire to one of my science projects the day before I needed it for class."

"Ha!" Mort snorted, but then he held back his laughter. "Sorry. I shouldn't laugh."

The bell then rang, signalling that break was over.

"I should let Holt take over now," Jackson then said. "He's better at music class than I am."

"Of course," Mort chuckled as Jackson reached for the black and red headphones. Just before he put them on, Mort spoke up once again. "Oh, hey… can we fang out like this every lunchtime?"

"That'd be nice," Jackson smiled in response. "I'll always be in the library, unless this protest against normies stops soon."

"Don't worry, Holt and I will fix everything," Mort grinned. Jackson nodded his head thankfully before starting the music on his iCoffin, and in a flaming flash, Holt was once again standing in his place.

"YEEEAAAHHH!" the DJ howled, then noticing Mort standing before him. "What time is it, Morty Mort? Time to rock-out the music room?"

"You said it," Mort answered. Holt let out an excited cheer before sprinting out of the classroom. Mort tried to run after him but, being a zombie, it was difficult to garner such energy for running.

The two mansters ran by Frankie and the other ghouls, almost knocking them down. "Sorry, Frankie-fine!" Holt could be heard yelling.

"And we don't get an apology?" Cleo asked rhetorically, not sounding at all surprised but still disappointed and disgusted.

"C'mon, ghouls, we need to go to class," Frankie reminded them, leading her group of friends down the corridor.

"I'll see you guys later," Luke waved, walking away in the other direction.

As Frankie and the ghouls walked, they crossed paths with the group of sniggering Booston Grammar transfer students.

"Looking forward to the party, ghouls?" Mortricia asked with a smug smirk upon her face. Frankie frowned and held her head high as she continued to walk, and her friends did the same. This only made the rival group smile at each other mischievously as they believed that they were indeed victorious, but they did not know that one of their own boos had befriended the normie they were all united against.

Classes went by as normal, and once they were over, it was time to go home. That was the time when Frankie approached Holt herself.

"So, Holt, do you have any sparking ideas?" she asked him. "The party is tomorrow."

"Don't worry, firecracker, the Holtster knows exactly what he's doing," Holt replied with a proud grin. "I'll go on in and rock that place! But I'll be bringing the tunes nobody's expecting!"

"Great!" Frankie grinned. "You've written another song?"

"You bet!" Holt beamed. "Operetta's rehearsing tonight. That rebel ghoul will be wailing those vocals! WOO!"

"This plan will work out perfectly!" Frankie stated with confidence. "We'll be able to remind everyone that Monster High is a place where everyone can be themselves – monster or normie!" She smiled happily at the manster before her. "Thanks for your help, Holt. We really appreciate it, and I'm sure Jackson does, too."

"That dude owes me one for this," Holt responded, although his tone suggested that he was just being playful. He may have disliked normies, but it wasn't right to scare them all away from the school. Jackson didn't exactly deserve such treatment, either; he may have been a dork, but he was harmless.

The day passed, as did the night, and it was time for the party. This would be the day which decided the future of Monster High – whether it would be a school of acceptance, or a school where normies were banned.

Frankie caught sight of Holt in the school corridor, once again running up to him. "So, are you ready?" she asked with a smile.

"Now, when ain't I ready to play my beats?" the redheaded boy countered. "Let's fire up the catacombs with something LOUD!"

 **~End of Chapter~**


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